Pollution control in Africa: the interplay between financial integration and industrialization

We employ the pool mean group method of estimation and panel causality to investigate the effect of financial integration and industrial development on pollution in 36 African countries between 1990 and 2019. Result shows a unidirectional causality running from industrial development to financial integration and pollution in Africa. Also, the panel regression shows that financial integration insignificantly abates pollution in the short run, but significantly worsens the long-run pollution in the continent. Again, the result indicates that industrial development insignificantly heightens pollution in both periods, while interplay between financial integration and industrial development exerts a negative impact on both short- and long-run pollution in Africa. The study recommends that African leaders should harness the benefits of financial integration to accelerate African industrial development and ensure the full implementation of environmentally sustainable policies to checkmate pollution emissions.